Formal & Informal Learning

Malcolm Knowles is generally considered to be the originator of the term “informal learning” through his book published in 1970: Informal Adult Education: A Guide for Administrators, Leaders, and Teachers. Allen Tough was probably the first to really study how adults use informal learning. You can read one of his papers (PDF) here, Reflections on the study of adult learning (1999). The next big proponent of informal learning was Jay Cross, who wrote Informal Learning: Rediscovering the Natural Pathways That Inspire Innovation and Performance (2007).

Many, many moons ago I wrote a post on Knowledge Management Systems that illustrated Marc Rosenberg’s KM model. This model depicts an organization that has a truly integrated system of sharing knowledge that includes formal training and an ongoing mentoring system for it’s employees. This model includes use of social media to connect employees.  Since I wrote this post, the use of social media online for both connecting and learning has exploded. Many more company executives (though not as many as there could be) are now schooled on the finer points of using social media as promotional vehicles as well as within the organization to enhance employee learning and knowledge.

Recently, On his blog, Jay Cross presented an adapted version of Jane Hart’s 5-Stage Model of the Evolution of Workplace Learning.

http://www.informl.com/2010/05/07/workscape-evolution/

Here’s the visual that illustrates this.

From informl.com (Jay Cross)

Many, many moons ago I wrote a post on Knowledge Management Systems that illustrated Marc Rosenberg’s KM model. This model depicts an organization that has a truly integrated system of sharing knowledge that includes formal training and an ongoing mentoring system for it’s employees. This model includes use of social media to connect employees.  Since I wrote this post, the use of social media online for both connecting and learning has exploded. Many more company executives (though not as many as there could be) are now schooled on the finer points of using social media as promotional vehicles as well as within the organization to enhance employee learning and knowledge.

Recently, On his blog, Jay Cross presented an adapted version of Jane Hart’s 5-Stage Model of the Evolution of Workplace Learning.

http://www.informl.com/2010/05/07/workscape-evolution/

Here’s the visual that illustrates this.

From informl.com (Jay Cross)

As Cross points out in his post, the more familiar your workers are with online networking tools and media,  the more they can readily use social networking support to improve their learning and skills.   You need to be able to assess where your audience of learners skill lies in the following areas: Web/Tech Expertise and Social Networking Familiarity.

From informl.com (Jay Cross)

My organization provides tools to support and enhance informal learning

Informal Learning: Are We Missing  a HUGE Opportunity? with Bob Mosher of Learning Guide Solutions, presented by Massachusetts Chapter of ISPI and sponsored by Kineo. 

This real-live event happened October 21 in Westford, MA.

These are my notes, taken live during the workshop – mostly my transcription, no editorializing.  I have not gone back and cleaned things up, so apologies in advance for any incoherence…

___________________

Bob Mosher, LearningGuide Solutions

This workshop would be better as a series of 15 minutes lesson spread out over 1 1/2 months – not 1/2 day session. But we don’t usually have the $ to do that…

“For far too long, training has used the smile sheet as the metric.”

Training typically ends at the event – how does that help the learner when they get to the point of performance?

3 domains: formal, informal, performance support.

If training is all you’ve got, then it better be REALLY good.

If you think through the full spectrum, then training becomes less important…

Performance support tools given out after a training event:

Leadership Competency Model Wheel– competencies are around the outer edge of the tool (e.g., leads people), subcategories, then specific ‘doings” – a wheel that you spin.

3 moments that we need to use performance support – we’ve missed this – right at the one moment is the one we focus on the most, but there’s also the before and after.  performance improvement comes in the before and after.

Before -- you can anticipate a bad thing coming (e.g., prepare for the performance review you’re about to give).

 After – the review went badly, so now you want to get better. “I was ill-prepared” – now I look back on the event and see where I can adjust.

(So this wheel is best used in the before and after moments – not something you’d use in the middle of the employee’s review meeting).

Part of performance support is encoding, decoding. Part of the problem w/training is that people can’t recall – performance support helps you remember and decode what you learned.  This is not to teach, but to enable.

Mobile Support

Mobile support for Herman Miller sales rep – pictures of all the chairs and products, click deeper to get more info on product –what’s the fabric, is it in stock?

Product Support Tool for a Call Center

Easily indexed catalog of products that reps can quickly access – great for “seasonal” content – e.g., insurance reps who handle calls on snowmobiles or boats

Needs to be easy to maintain, easy to access and use (so many call center reps are timed on their calls)

HTML based app – easy to program and maintain, familiar to users (it’s like browsing online which we all do, even Bob’s mom – ease of use, familiar environment).

Simple changes – user needs to be able to contribute to updates because they’re so close to the content.

***********

Training groups haven’t changed to support the design of performance support.

Principles of Effective Performance Support

• it has to be contextual (as native to what the learner does as possible)
• Form factor has to meet the needs of the learner
• Visually decodes learning and recall (we set up mental hooks to content – we put things in our brain where there’s some similar associations)
• Supports the entire learning process starting with formal instruction (performance support does not stand alone – Bob is not a training basher – it’s an enabler).
  
  Why should I train stuff that they can look up? I need to tell them that it’s there to look up.  Teach the performance support tool.
• Not JIT (just in time), but JET (just enough training)
  "We’ve confused accessibility with relevance.”

A working definition:  “Performance support is providing intuitive, tailored aid to a person at his or her moment of need to ensure the most effective performance.”